Virtual reality creates a simulated physical presence for the user inside a computer-generated three-dimensional environment. In general, the hardware of a virtual reality system consists of components, such as display screens, tracking devices and a high-performance computer to produce a high-level immersion experience for the user. By tracking the changes in the user's movement around the environment, virtual reality systems produce the feeling in the user of being immersed in the environment by making corresponding changes in the user's fields of vision, thus ensuring the computer-generated virtual environment is both realistic and enjoyable.
Conventionally, the computer-generated virtual environment is projected stereoscopically onto (multiple) big screens. The user experiences the three-dimensional environment by simply wearing a pair of translucent stereoscopic 3D glasses. The immersion, in this case, is achieved by employing an expensive optical tracking system. Conventional virtual reality system, as described herein, require tremendous investment in the hardware components, and have been found to be difficult to market to average users.
Thus, what is needed in the art are apparatus, systems and methods that allow for the cost-effective development of interactive environments.
The advancement of technology in recent years has seen new opportunities that allow virtual reality systems to venture into the home user market with the introduction of a new interactive immersive experience powered by head-mounted displays (“HMD”). Having various sensors built-in to the HMD body, the user wearing the HMD can be tracked by tracking the position and orientation of the head-mounted display. Also, the rendered stereoscopic 3D environment can be projected directly onto the eyes of the user, covering the entirety of the user's field of view and creating a high level of immersion at a much lower cost. Despite being priced much more favorably, the market response to the HMD-powered virtual reality system has been underwhelming. As a result of needing to incorporate the sensor components and an integral display screen into a single product, the HMD is bulky and uncomfortable when the user moves around the virtual reality environment wearing it. In addition, with the HMD covering the user's entire field of view, movement without knowledge of the external environment has raised great safety concerns from people who are skeptical about trying such a virtual reality experience.
Thus, what is further needed in the art is a system, apparatus, and method that overcomes the deficiencies in usability and cost found in the existing prior art.
It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.